Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief
Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief
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Overview
In the ebullient spirit of Ocean's 8, The Heist, and Thelma & Louise, a sensational and entertaining memoir of the world's most notorious jewel thief-a woman who defied society's prejudices and norms to carve her own path, stealing from elite jewelers to live her dreams.
Growing up during the Depression in the segregated coal town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, Doris Payne was told her dreams were unattainable for poor black girls like her. Surrounded by people who sought to limit her potential, Doris vowed to turn the tables after the owner of a jewelry store threw her out when a white customer arrived. Neither racism nor poverty would hold her back; she would get what she wanted and help her mother escape an abusive relationship.
Using her southern charm, quick wit, and fascination with magic as her tools, Payne began shoplifting small pieces of jewelry from local stores. Over the course of six decades, her talents grew with each heist. Becoming an expert world-class jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies and her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems to Hollywood celebrities.
Doris's criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s-partly because the stores did not want to admit that they were duped by a black woman. Eventually realizing Doris was using him, her boyfriend turned her in. She was arrested after stealing a diamond ring in Monte Carlo that was valued at more than half a million dollars. But even prison couldn't contain this larger-than-life personality who cleverly used nuns as well as various ruses to help her break out. With her arrest in 2013 in San Diego, Doris's fame skyrocketed when media coverage of her astonishing escapades exploded.
Today, at eighty-seven, Doris, as bold and vibrant as ever, lives in Atlanta, and is celebrated for her glamorous legacy. She sums up her adventurous career best: "It beat being a teacher or a maid." A rip-roaringly fun and exciting story as captivating and audacious as Catch Me if You Can and Can You Ever Forgive Me?-Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781982687830 |
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Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
Publication date: | 09/10/2019 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Product dimensions: | 5.80(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.60(d) |
About the Author
Doris Payne was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia. She is the daughter of a coal miner and the youngest of six siblings. Her career as an international jewel thief spans 6 decades.
Robin Miles, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, has twice won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, an Audie Award for directing, and many Earphones Awards. Her film and television acting credits include The Last Days of Disco, Primary Colors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, New York Undercover, National Geographic’s Tales from the Wild, All My Children, and One Life to Live. She regularly gives seminars to members of SAG and AFTRA actors’ unions, and in 2005 she started Narration Arts Workshop in New York City, offering audiobook recording classes and coaching. She holds a BA degree in theater studies from Yale University, an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama, and a certificate from the British American Drama Academy in England.
Table of Contents
Prologue: Mined
April 1956 3
Part I Color
1 I Wasn't Born a Jewel Thief 11
2 Greed 17
3 My Declaration of War 25
4 Mr. Benjamin 33
Part II Clarity
5 Trickster in Practice 43
6 Finding My Way Out 48
7 My First Big Heist 61
8 Hot Ice, Cold Feet 68
9 Making Good on My Crimes 77
10 Taking Things to the Next Level 88
11 Racial Backfire 104
12 It's Who You Know, but You Don't Own Me 115
13 Family Ties and Known Associates 125
Part III Cut
14 Going International 137
15 Diamond Fever 156
16 Returning to Baby Jesus 174
17 Fault Line 181
18 Off My Game 186
19 Throwing Dust at Disaster 199
Part IV Carat
20 Snared 209
21 Telling People What They Want to Hear 223
22 Tokyo Diamonds and the Mohair Coat 229
23 The Long Game 235
24 Dry Snitches 249
25 Reckoning 254
Epilogue: DVVS
December 2018 265
Acknowledgments 267